I just saw a post in an urban sketching Facebook group that I participate in from a gentleman who said he couldn’t find anything interesting to sketch in his hometown. His hometown was Calgary, Alberta.
What?!?
I live in small town Canada (population 397). It was unfathomable to me that my Facebook friend was unable to find inspiration in a city the size of Calgary!
Sweetie and I spent two days in Calgary last summer and attended the Calgary Stampede. Excluding all the photos I took of the Stampede I still came away with a half dozen (terrible) photos of places we drove by that I would love to urban sketch!
From the ‘88 Calgary Olympic Games, the bobsled and luge tracks. History and visual interest all wrapped up in one urban sketch just waiting to be born!
The Calgary Tower. From the urban sketching viewpoint, look at how interesting the buildings are around it and the perspective lines!
Who wouldn’t want to sketch this guy climbing the building? My photo may not be the best, but you can see the potential for an urban sketch, right?
Is Canada Uninspiring To Urban Sketchers?
I can see where my Calgarian friend was coming from, though.
If you explore urban sketching online (which most of us tend to do) you see a lot of beautiful sketches from iconic locations. Places like London, England or Santorini, Greece.
Just mentioning the names of these places conjures up images of castles on cobbled streets, or whitewashed buildings with bright blue domes.
Places that are centuries old and everything about them from roadways to pathways has character. There are epic urban sketching opportunities around every corner!
Comparatively speaking, Canada is a young country.
- Our cities and buildings are newer.
- Our roadways and infrastructure are modern.
- Our street corners lack old-fashioned charm.
- Our weather limits open air cafes and restaurants.
- Our “shops” are big box stores.
- We don’t have castles, cathedrals, or monuments in every nook & cranny.
- Canada has a lot of small towns and rural spaces. (Let’s face it, even our BIG towns are kind of smallish on the world stage.)
So, do you have to plan trips to exotic locations or historic destinations to find amazing urban sketching opportunities? Is that the solution?
No. Definitely not!!
The Real Secret
If you’ve been urban sketching for a while, you’ll notice something very quickly: sketchers all over the world tend to draw the same kinds of things, no matter the location.
- Vehicles
- Architecture
- Coffee shops
- Local Oddities
- Street Corners
- People in Motion
- Markets & Stores
- Parks & Green Spaces
Yes, places like London or Santorini get a lot of attention — centuries‑old castles, cobblestones, and those iconic whitewashed buildings with bright blue domes practically begging to be sketched .
But the truth is that the most popular subjects aren’t limited to postcard cities. They’re universal, and they show up in every town, including the Canadian towns we think are “too boring.”
The magic of urban sketching isn’t about living somewhere “sketch-worthy.”
As someone who has road-tripped my way 18,000KM across Canada in Vinny VAN Go, my Dodge Caravan converted for camping, I can tell you that every location I visited was sketch worthy!
It’s about learning to see the shapes, shadows, stories, and surprises hiding in plain sight. Once you start looking through a sketcher’s eyes, even the most modern, practical, or “young” city suddenly becomes full of possibilities.
Check This Out!
If you are looking for inspiration for your urban sketches with a Canadian viewpoint, check out the “Sketchy Canadian Road Trip” zine. From small prairie towns to cities like Calgary you’ll see sample sketches and get a peek onto Canadian back yards – maybe even your own!
Stay Sketchy,
Subscribe to Sketchy Canadian Road Trip
